This ASOS email I received a while back works particularly well. The subject line certainly isn’t trying to do anything clever – they just want to emphasise the deal. But the preview text emphasises why customers should make the most of it.

Next time you’re sending out an email, think how you could make the most of this opportunity and make your preview text brilliant, persuasive copy.

5) Search bar

A search bar is a search bar with no opportunities to do anything interesting. It’s just there. Right? Wrong.

Airbnb do something quite clever with theirs. They give users inspiration of where they could go and what could they do.

Users could have innocently visited the website to book a weekend away, but then they decide to head to Cali for a week of catching waves.

It goes to show design and copy need to work together to help initiate action. Even something functional is an opportunity to inject some energy and inspire readers.

6) Email sign up

Remember the last time you signed up for a mailing list? I can’t. With GDPR in full swing, brands need to work harder to persuade people to opt into their mailing list.

I felt disappointed when I saw Lush’s sign up. They’ve definitely fallen into the trap here of making everything else creative, but not making a boring bit brilliant.

Not on the Highstreet take a different approach. They attempt to persuade the audience that their emails are different. The sense of intrigue makes it tempting to sign up.

An email sign up might seem boring as brands know they need it somewhere on their site. But to actually persuade people to sign up, adding some brilliant copy can make it much more effective.

7) “User name already exists” message

We’ve all been there. We need to complete the dull task of creating a new account, and you have to pick a username. But no, every single one we can think of is taken. It’s frustrating.

I love this hidden gem from MailChimp.

It lightens the mood, appeals to the reader’s sense of humour and improves user experience.

What’s interesting is this won’t be visible to everyone, but they’ve found an opportunity to make themselves likeable and added great copy in an unlikely place.

Of course, this kind of comedic approach wouldn’t work for every brand. But it can always be used as an opportunity to offer advice or even offer suggestions to make the experience easier.

Summary

We’ve only talked about 7 places where great copy makes a difference. Always keep an eye out for opportunities – whether it’s sprucing up your delivery information or making your FAQs in line with your tone of voice.

If you’re too busy to read the whole post, get started by making these boring bits brilliant:

Privacy policies – personalise it to your brand by adding small bits of copy.

Error 404 pages – make it fun to relieve some of the frustration, or simply say sorry like you mean it.